Orphans of the Holocaust: Ottó Komoly's Diary, Budapest 1944

By Thomas Komoly

Orphans of the Holocaust tells the remarkable true story of Ottó Komoly, a Hungarian-Jewish engineer and Zionist leader who helped save thousands of Jewish lives during the Holocaust. As head of the Budapest Aid and Rescue Committee, Komoly worked tirelessly to assist Polish and Slovakian Jews to escape and hide in Hungary. After German troops entered Hungary in March 1944, Komoly helped organize ‘Department A’ of the International Red Cross in Budapest. As its director, he oversaw the setting up of shelters and orphanages for some 5,500 Jewish children who lost their parents during the Nazi siege of Budapest and supported the ghetto and Jewish hospitals with food and medication.
The book chronicles Komoly’s lifesaving rescue campaign through his personal diary from 1944, providing a raw, firsthand perspective of his tireless efforts organizing and aiding Hungary’s Jews despite the mortal danger he faced. Despite having the opportunity to escape, Komoly chose to remain in Budapest to carry out his life-saving work until his arrest and presumed death at the hands of Hungary’s fascist Arrow Cross in January 1945. Orphans of the Holocaust sheds light on this selfless hero who risked everything for the sake of humanity.
Tributes:
“I have to highlight what an extraordinary man Ottó Komoly was. He was a model of calm and determination in the worst of times. He came to me looking for assistance, and I am happy to have worked with him. An idea is always best understood through people. I am not competent to talk about Zionism, it is up to those who are entitled to talk about it. For me, this idea has acquired beauty and greatness since I got to know Ottó Komoly. His wisdom and goodness has awakened in me the feeling that it must be a great idea to have such leading personalities.”
– Albert Bereczky, protestant bishop and Hungarian Secretary of State, in March 1946.
“… Ottó Komoly was a Zionist: he planted his feet firmly in the midst of the deluge of ordinances, and dared to say: we must initiate resistance, we must rescue, we must gain time and lives. He had no special exemptions from the German authorities, he did not bribe the nyilas leaders - his Zionist consciousness gave him courage and strength to oppose the ruling regime. … He placed his efforts of resistance and rescue under a single authority: the International Red Cross. But the power did not come from that authority, but from the person of Otto Komoly - from his radiant determination, from his ability to instil security in his voluntary partners. That was what gave power to the authority.”
– One of his co-workers, László Szamosi, in 1975.
“A man of irreproachable character, Komoly played a prominent, though unfortunately not a decisively important, role during the catastrophe of Hungarian Jewry. …He was practically the only person that all Zionist factional leaders looked upon without rancour or malice. He was a pacifier and unifier by nature and did everything possible to put an end to the perennial conflicts within and among the various Zionist groups and organizations.”
– Randolph Braham in The Politics of Genocide (1981).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Mar 1, 2024
• ISBN: 9781035810475

Thomas Komoly

Thomas Komoly was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1936 where he lived and survived the Holocaust. His studies in engineering post-war were interrupted by the Hungarian Uprising of 1956, which enabled him to escape from behind the Iron Curtain. As a refugee in Austria, he obtained a scholarship to study in Britain, and received a master’s degree, leading to research in academia and a career in the chemical industry. He retired in 1998 and became a consultant in the design of laboratories, publishing a book on this topic, subsequently engaged very actively in Holocaust education delivering his own testimony, for which he was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) by the late Queen. He and his wife live in Cheshire.

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About the Author

Thomas Komoly was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1936 where he lived and survived the Holocaust. His studies in engineering post war were interrupted by the Hungarian Uprising of 1956, which enabled him to escape from behind the Iron Curtain. As a refugee in Austria, he obtained a scholarship to study in Britain, and received a master’s degree, leading to research in academia and a career in the chemical industry. He retired in 1998 and became a consultant in the design of laboratories, publishing a book on this topic, subsequently engaged very actively in Holocaust education delivering his own testimony, for which he was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) by the late Queen. He and his wife live in Cheshire.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to the members of my family, amongst the multitude of others, whom Ottó Komoly did not manage to save, and to my mother without whose courage and determination I would not have survived.

It is also dedicated to the victims of a barbaric onslaught by Hamas in October 2023, on a holy day in the Jewish calendar, and to Jews throughout the world suffering a surge of antisemitism, unseen since the events recounted in this volume.

Copyright Information ©

Thomas Komoly 2024

The right of Thomas Komoly to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

The story, experiences, and words are the author’s alone.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781035810468 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781035810475 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published 2024

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd®1 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5AA

Acknowledgements

First of all, I must mention George Donath, whose approach to me originated my commitment to write this memorial to the life saving work of my Uncle Ottó. Once my decision was made, Michael Newman CEO of the Association of Jewish Refugees gave me invaluable support through putting me in touch with various organisations and individuals who could assist me in furthering the task. I also had encouraging input at various stages from Shula Bahat CEO of ANU–America, Nina Munk and Anna Porter of Toronto, Gaylen Ross of New York and the Holocaust Educational Trust of London. Ita Gordon of the USC Shoah Foundation gave me access to so far unheard-of testimonials referring to Ottó Komoly and his activities. Kati Mouyal of Tel Aviv very usefully advised me of the hidden traps in preparing for publication. Ofer Lipschitz of Tel Aviv University never ceased to encourage me, and Oded Fürst (Ottó’s grandson) tirelessly scanned for me the original transcripts and a flood of further material from the family collection. The Revesz family kindly gave me permission to use the list of orphanages established and ran by the ICRC and the photo of the Va’ada leadership.

I have to thank Chris Hale, author of Deception, for many useful discussions including those leading to the captions, and providing the historical context for the 1944 summer period. Professor Paul Kleiman very kindly contributed his ideas for a cover design and Anthony Grahame, former Editorial Director at Sussex Academic Press helped with several discussions and with the title of the book.

Dr. Tamási Balázs of OR-ZSE (Budapest University of Jewish Studies), and Howard Falksohn of the Wiener Holocaust Library both gave me invaluable assistance in accessing otherwise inaccessible reference material. Miriam and Asa Eger very kindly spent substantial time availing me of László Szamosi’s original diary and commemorative speeches.

I must mention Hansi and Joel Brand and Ernő Szilágyi, three important members of the original Va’ada team, who in my reckoning never received the thanks and recognition in the public domain merited by their unwavering contribution. In closing, I want to refer to the dedication and commitment of my wife Gill, with which she supported me both in my preparation of the manuscript and seeing it through to the eventual publication. She was the anchor that allowed me to battle through some of my inner doubts and external obstacles at various stages of creating and completing my task.

Introduction

On June 22, 2014, an unexpected email landed on my desk:

I wonder if you are a descendant, direct or otherwise, of Otto Komoly.

If so, I should very much like to have an opportunity to thank him,

through you, for the small matter of my life.

Would love to hear from you

George Donath, London

This was the beginning of not only a friendship, but also my search for details of my uncle Otto’s life and his astounding achievements during the frighteningly adverse conditions of the Hungarian Holocaust. I always knew that he was a Zionist leader, and I was aware of a small plaque on the wall of the main Budapest synagogue recording his death.

As I discovered more and more about Ottó Komoly, I decided to commemorate his notable life sustaining activities, primarily through translating and publishing his miraculously surviving private diary of 1944. The diary contains facts unavailable to others and more importantly, facts which are reliable and accurate, having been written within hours of the events.

…………………

Ottó Komoly (Natan Zeev Kohn) was born in Budapest in 1892. His father David Kohn attended the first Zionist conference in 1897 and founded the movement’s Hungarian branch.

Ottó fought in the Austro-Hungarian army reaching the rank of captain, wounded in action, and awarded military honours. He graduated at the Technical University of Budapest, while active in the youth Zionist movement. Thereafter, he practised as a structural engineer and architect, becoming the first practitioner in designs based on reinforced concrete in Hungary.

In 1939, Komoly considered moving to Palestine but decided to remain in Hungary to help his fellow Jews. In 1941, he was elected Chairman of the Hungarian Zionist Federation, and in 1943 formed the Aid and Rescue Committee (or Va’ada¹) in Budapest. Together with Rezső Kasztner² and several others, they were involved with relief activities and attempts to smuggle huge numbers of Jewish refugees mainly from Poland and Slovakia into the country to safety, and helped organise food and medical services for the thousands who poured into Budapest, and later was involved in seeking escape routes for them. The decorations he had received in the war exempted him from the country’s anti-Jewish measures, giving him freedom to act on several different levels: he lobbied ceaselessly trying to convince the government of Admiral Miklós Horthy not to turn over the Jews for deportation, despite the leadership’s alliance with the Nazis.

Contemporary photograph of the Dob-utca 90 children’s orphanage obtained from the Social Democrat Party. Originally fitted out for 250 children, ultimately housing nearer 1000: Ottó ran an office that operated 52 different children’s homes, in which some 550 Jewish adults cared for as many as 5,500 Jewish children separated from their parents.

When Germany occupied Hungary in March 1944, the committee’s leaders divided up responsibilities for saving Hungarian Jews. Komoly worked on procuring support from Hungarian political and church leaders and diplomats, (while Joel Brand and Kasztner began negotiating with Adolf Eichmann). He tried to influence the government using his military status and his connection with the son of Miklós Horthy. Under his leadership, the Va’ada cooperated with non-Jewish protests against Nazi policies in Hungary, especially among the clergy and politicians. He had contacts with the Hungarian liberal circles, the Spanish Swedish and Swiss consulates, the Pope’s representative, the Protestant clergy, and some ministers. In late 1944, he also accepted a position on the Jewish Council, trying to smooth the conflict between the various factions. Komoly also supported the underground activities of the Zionist youth movements and worked with all his heart and strength in the rescue of Jews.³

Fairly soon after, at the initiative of Friedrich Born, ‘Department A’ of the International Red Cross (ICRC) was set up, and Ottó Komoly was invited to serve as its head. The Department worked initially towards the rescue of children. He ran an office that operated 52 different children’s homes, in which some 550 Jewish adults cared for as many as 5,500 Jewish children separated from their parents. The ‘A’ Office, as it was called, also ran safe houses, where, under the protection of foreign legations, Jews could find temporary refuge. They also organised shelter, food and medical services for Jewish hospitals, and later for the ghetto.

This is how Peter Falush remembers in London, 2021:

‘Boys and girls were on separate floors, sleeping on mattresses on the floor, between 5 to 10 in a room. I don’t remember how we spent the day, but we did not leave the building as it was a very cold winter. My four year old sister was more upset than l, with no familiar faces around. She was often complaining she was hungry and did not know that her brother was elsewhere in the building.’

Photo courtesy of Memorial Museum of Hungarian Jewry, Safed, Israel

At the initiative of Friedrich Born, ‘Department A’ of the International Red Cross (ICRC) was set up, and Ottó Komoly was invited to serve as its head. The Department worked initially towards the rescue of children.

Together with Va’ada members Kasztner and Szilágyi, Komoly was involved in coordinating the rescue train⁴ that carried 1,686 Jews to neutral Switzerland in June 1944, again passing up the opportunity to include himself or his wife on the passenger list. He does not have the kind of name recognition of Carl Lutz or Raoul Wallenberg⁵, two other rescuers of Hungarian Jews, but his efforts and his accomplishments were no less impressive than theirs. He remained in Budapest throughout the war – possibly matching or exceeding everything other Jews or the gentiles achieved in saving Jewish lives.

Letter from the Head of the ICRC to the Spanish Charge d’affaires (Sans-Briz) agreeing to use the cover of the neutral Spanish Embassy in Budapest for Komoly and Szamosi, who were planning the potential transportation of 500 Jewish children to Tangier in North Africa

On December 28, 1944, Komoly moved into Budapest’s Ritz Hotel, where the local representative of the ICRC was based for safety. Four days later, on January 1, he was taken away for questioning by members of the Arrow Cross fascists, who told his colleagues he would be back the same day. He was never heard from again, and it is likely that he was, like thousands of other Jews, shot, with his body dumped in the nearby Danube. Less than three weeks later, on January 18, Budapest was liberated by the Red Army.

Ottó managed an office in charge of a multitude of children’s homes. The ‘A’ Office also organised shelter, food and medical services for Jewish hospitals, and later for the ghetto. In this letter, Ottó nominated P. Fischer to manage the ICRC orphanage at Budakeszi-ut 67.

Komoly’s wife and daughter survived the war and settled in pre-state Israel. In 1953, Moshav Yad Natan, in the northern Negev, was named in his memory. He also received one of the highest medals from the Hungarian President posthumously, and streets have been named after him in Israel. B’nei Brith and KKL⁶-JNF acknowledged his heroism at a celebration in Jerusalem in 2013 in the Forest of the Martyrs.

The complete list of children’s homes from ‘Standing up to Evil: A Zionist’s Underground Rescue Activities in Hungary’ by Peretz Révész, published in 2001 in Hebrew.

Courtesy of Noa Revesz-Shenhav, e-mail of 7th May 2023

Ottó Komoly was considered a most valued member not only of the Zionist camp, but of the whole community. In the sad history of those days, when internal strife was prevalent, he was the one person that every one of his contemporaries, and later the historians in Hungary and elsewhere (including Braham, Cesarani), only spoke of in terms of the highest praise.

His widow Lila left Budapest in 1947 and was able to take with her several belongings, including records of the pre-war Zionist activities⁷ involving her husband. The diaries presented here were ultimately deposited at Yad Vashem, but only after copying. These copies served as the basis for the two publications (of the office diary) mentioned later. His grandson Oded Fürst scanned them for my use in the translation.

Ottó was in the habit of keeping a private dairy from the mid-1930s onwards. Each page contained two days, each day split into two, indicating office and private events. In 1944, his work entries slowly reduced and eventually disappeared, as the Jewish disaster unfolded (the work entries have been omitted from this translation). He did not have too much time to make the entries, and this is the obvious reason for the staccato style – but the information and the feelings conveyed are priceless from the historical point of view.

The entries stop at the end of June soon after the departure of the ‘Train’ which became so well known in Hungarian Holocaust history. The strain was telling, and he must have felt in need of concentrating on other matters. The enteries restart in October, fortunately for us, just before the Nyilas (Arrow Cross) putsch led to the most horrifying excesses of the period, and so we have his personal note to throw more light on the final stages.

In the intervening weeks of July, August and September⁸, something else was taking place. Some of the more sober government members, some of the clergy, some hiding opposition politicians, and even members of the armed forces began to consider what may happen after the increasingly likely military defeat of Hitler. These individuals began discussions partly as a wise political move, partly as a way of generating an ‘alibi’ for posterity, and they saw fit to look for the participation of a Jewish representative. Their choice fell on Ottó Komoly, the obvious leading person who could bridge over the divided factions of the Jewish community with his human qualities and the respect he commanded from all. His participation in a set of meetings with this group from August 21 to September 16 have also been recorded partly by himself immediately after the meetings, and partly as reports to the Va’ada soon after with secretarial help and published both in Hungarian⁹ and English¹⁰.

Letter sent to the Director of JOINT, a Jewish organization based in Switzerland that had been supporting the Rescue Committee (Va’ada) in Hungary.

"Dear Sir,

I only have a few minutes to write, as I received a message from Dr. Kasztner an hour ago that I could write to you. Therefore, I will keep this brief.

The end of Hungarian Jewry is approaching, and it is unlikely that, except for a tiny remnant, any of us will be saved. We are helpless here in the face of events and have almost lost hope that anything decisive can be achieved on your part. The only thing we are trying to do, with your help, is alleviate suffering, save children, and help the elderly and sick make their last days more bearable. The idea of preserving what exists today is nothing more than an illusion.

I know that you, Sir, have made superhuman efforts to help us. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Goodwill was not lacking; reality was stronger than you. In recognition of this, we march towards our fate. I would like to personally thank you for your kind concern for my daughter. I would greatly appreciate it if you could continue to keep her in mind in the future. I believe she deserves it.

Please accept, Mr. Manager, my heartfelt greetings. Thank you for all that you have done for us. Please accept this expression of my special esteem."

However, these records were extremely detailed (almost like transcripts) with personalised notes. As they not only fill the time gap, albeit in part only, but also give explanation to some of the entries in the private diary concerning personalities and events during the rest of the year, it was thought worthwhile to generate an abbreviated version. They are not only depicting the events in this period subsequent to Horthy’s suspension of deportations, but also demonstrating Komoly’s status as a politically significant representative of the Jewish community in the eyes of the progressive members of the Hungarian government and protestant clergy, including the son of the Regent Horthy. It also almost implies that had he survived, he would have had a substantial role to play in any post war arrangements representing Hungarian Jewry¹¹. The ‘minutes’ of these meetings have been abbreviated in this book to replicate the style of the private diary. This reduces the content sufficiently not to overshadow the private diary.

A few comments are required relating to the contents of the private diary:

To be faithful to the original, its style has been preserved. This means a somewhat unavoidable repetitive mention of daily routines, and the application of titles such